Emily is 3!

Emily turned three years old August 8th! Everyone has warned me that three can be worse than two, but so far, this age has been a delight. I know this sounds crazy, but in the past few weeks, it is like I can just tell that she is older. Her understanding, reasoning, and verbal communication are much more complex. She's so dang independent now! Her words and sentences keep getting longer. Her personality is well developed and normally very charming and loving.  Not to say that we don't have our moments, but usually I can predict her moods and work around the bad ones! For example, Emily is often a cranky girl when she wakes up from her nap. Doesn't really matter if she sleeps 1 hour or 2 1/2 hrs or if I wake her up or she wakes up on her own; she will be grouchy for awhile. So, we always have a favorite snack as soon as she wakes up. A promised favorite snack almost always stops the I'm-Cranky-Because-I-Just-Woke-Up crying. Then, we will either go outside for some fresh air or watch a favorite cartoon depending on if she's watched TV that morning or not.

This year we celebrated Emily's birthday MUCH smaller and it was much easier on a very pregnant mommy. Emily was just as happy. Her actual birthday was on Wednesday. Jeremy and I gave her our big present when she first woke up that morning. While she was still in her PJs, we showed her the dollhouse that Dad and Jeremy had put together. It is 3 stories and taller than she is. It has "real" furniture. It will accomodate Barbie-size dolls, but I'm kind of anti-Barbie right now for a 3 yr. old. So, I bought a small doll family for her. She loved her present and played with it all day. I made and decorated cupcakes while she napped. When she woke up, we got ready for our Lakeside party with the grandparents. Dinkney and Poppy brought a few presents and some balloons. We picked up some yummy take-out and set everything up on a balcony overlooking the lake. (Lakeside is a very unique swimming club as it used to be a rock quarry. It is really large with an exposed bluff of rocks that makes it feel more natural than your traditional rectangle pool.)  After having dinner, we let her blow out her 3 candles on her cupcake. Then, we opened presents and had about one hour or so to swim afterwards. It was a great night although it was awfully hot during dinner. The cool down in the pool afterwards was divine.

Picnic dinner at Lakeside

Cheesin' with Mommy and Daddy!

Happy Birthday, dear Emily!

Could she be any cuter? I love my little girl's eyes SO much.

Sweet photo of Emily and her Daddy. She had just opened this princess puzzle present from my parents.

Emily loved her Strawberry Shortcake dolls from Dinkney and Poppy. It is so fun to see Emily love something I grew up playing with, too. 

Saturday we celebrated Emily's party in Bowling Green at my parents' home. We decided to do the party at Nan and Pop's for several reasons. 1) We didn't want Stephen and Becca and the babies to have a long day of travel to/from Louisville. 2) We wanted to enjoy the country and 3) we wanted the great grandmothers to be able to come to one of Emily's parties while they can. But probably the biggest reason is that our house is a bit of a wreck right now! We are in the process of moving office stuff out of the future baby room and into the former guest bedroom/play room. I did not want to have a big party at our house and feel the pressure of needing to make the house and nursery look great. It would not have been good for my baby anxiety. 

The party would have been perfect if only all of the aunts and uncles and cousins could have been there. Laura and Will are in Virginia training for upcoming mission work. Jen and Ed live out of state. We were thrilled that Don and Nancy made the trip down to Bowling Green. Mom made a wonderful lunch for us. Dad made some yummy homemade princess pink strawberry ice cream.  I helped with a few of the fun food items (princess sandwiches and magic wand fruit kebobs.) We had a princess cake made for her and decorated the top with a crown and Cinderella figure. It about killed Emily to not touch that crown or Cinderella before it was time to blow out the candles! Baby Madeline (8 mon.), dressed up for the occasion and Jeremy had everyone donn a silly Burger King crown during lunch. It was pretty funny--wish we would have gotten a big group picture of it.

After nap time, we all headed to Smiths Grove for a farm festival at the Garden Patch. This place is just as sweet and country as it gets. They had live music and hay bales set up for the concert that night. There were fun games for the kids and plenty of wide open spaces for the toddlers to roam. The owner has converted an old dairy barn into a store filled with vintage "treasures" and farm fresh baked goods and veggies. It was fun to walk around and look at everything.

Overall, I think Emily had a great birthday week and we had a fun time sharing it with our closest family. God has richly blessed us with a beautiful, loving, charming, smart little girl! I'm so lucky to be her mommy. I tell her all the time, "I'm so glad you're my little girl" and she tells me "I love you THIS MUCH, mommy!" as she spreads her little 3 yr. old arms open.

Emily's princess cake

What a spread!

Emily and Cooper

Blowing out more candles!

The hat and those sweet cheeks make me smile! :) 

Dinkney and Poppy get into the party mood.

Opening up presents from Aunt Becca and Uncle Stephen

Tried to get a photo of the sweet girls, but they both kept moving...

Playing with her new Disney princesses (or as Emily says "princesseses"--yes, she makes it plural twice!)

Hanging out at the Smiths Grove Garden Patch

This was taken at Memmommy Lee's house on Sunday afternoon. Memommy Lee is still recovering from a stroke and didn't feel like taking photos. She wasn't able to come to the party. Memommy Meisel was there, but I don't have a photo of her and Emily. Nor do I have photos with Becca and Stephen! Hope Mom captured a few.